This thesis presents the results of geoarchaeological investigations of several archaeological sites along the Elm Fork of the Trinity River in north central Texas. Archaeological data recorded from mitigation excavations in Denton and Cooke counties were analyzed to understand the geologic impacts on faunal preservation resulting from site formation processes. The faunal assemblages are highly fragmented, even in settings known for good preservation. A combined approach using geoarchaeological and taphonomic techniques was implemented to examine how fragmentation, evidence of soil weathering, and differential preservation were impacted by differing geologic conditions throughout the river basin. Intrasite and intersite results of the sites show that a great deal of variability of faunal preservation is present at difference scales of analysis.

Os sambaquis do litoral sul brasileiro são marcos paisagísticos, com valor histórico e científico. Constituem-se, predominantemente, de conchas de moluscos e sedimentos com marcante presença de matéria orgânica, empilhados em conformações estratigráficas variadas. Neste trabalho, elegeram-se como objetos de estudo três sambaquis da costa centro-sul de Santa Catarina, com dois tipos de conformações distintas: de um lado, os sambaquis Carniça III e Encantadas III, e, de outro, o Jabuticabeira II, maior e estratigraficamente mais complexo. A proposta é auxiliar na reconstrução dos hábitos e costumes dos povos que viveram nesta área litorânea durante grande parte do Holoceno pré-descobrimento, e inferir suas relações com a evolução do ambiente geológico que os cercava. Para isso, foca-se em duas metas ou objetivos maiores: a aplicação de análise de fácies e de arquitetura deposicional nos sambaquis selecionados; e a investigação do uso de sedimentos paleolagunares como seu material construtivo. Para buscar estes objetivos, utilizou-se uma abordagem multi-analítica, que compreendeu: análise de fácies; determinação dos teores de matéria orgânica e carbonatos mais fosfatos; caracterização da fração grossa por lupa; granulometria; mineralogia de grãos pesados; estudo petrográfico e micromorfológico em seção delgada; microscopia eletrônica de varredura; e geoquímica e isotopia de carbono e nitrogênio. A estratigrafia dos sambaquis Carniça III e Encantada III é composta por um núcleo arenoso sobreposto por camada preta orgânica rica em conchas e artefatos antrópicos (terra preta, codificada como fácies LA). Em contraste, o sambaqui Jabuticabeira II caracteriza-se pela intercalação entre camadas conchíferas e lâminas pretas contendo sepultamentos (fácies funerária, codificada como Lc), capeada por camada de terra preta, rica em artefatos e sepultamentos. Por meio da análise de fácies, foi possível distinguir neste sambaqui três associações, da base para o topo: cascalho-lamosa, areno-lamosa e cascalho-arenosa. A sucessão vertical destas associações reflete o assoreamento progressivo do sistema lagunar e configura assim a relação do sambaqui com o ambiente deposicional do entorno. As associações de fácies, de qualquer hierarquia, são delimitadas pelas lâminas da fácies Lc. As análises do material construtivo utilizado nos sambaquis indicaram proveniência a partir das feições deposicionais mais próximas aos sítios, representadas por fundo, margem e brejo lagunar, nos casos dos sambaquis Jabuticabeira II e Encantada III, e por cordões litorâneos lagunares e dunas eólicas superimpostas, no caso do sítio Carniça III. Os parâmetros granulométricos e os índices de minerais pesados revelaram controle sobretudo geográfico em sua distribuição. A análise de componentes fosfáticos aliados aos sinais isotópicos do carbono e nitrogênio indicam grande processamento antrópico no material constituinte das lâminas funerárias e da terra preta do sambaqui Jabuticabeira II, com características de matéria orgânica putrefata, provável refugo do processamento cotidiano dos sambaquieiros. Já para o Carniça III e Encantada III, este processamento teria sido muito menor. / The sambaquis (also known as shell mounds or shell middens) in the Brazilian southern coast are landscape references and bear historical and scientific value. They are predominantly constituted of mollusk shells and sediments and also hold a sound presence of organic matter, piled up in different stratigraphic configurations. In this work, three sambaquis in the central-southern coast of the Santa Catarina state have been chosen as objects of study. They present two distinct configuration types: on one hand, the Carniça III and the Encantadas III, and, on the other hand, the Jabuticabeira II, which is larger and stratigraphically more complex. The proposal is to assist on the reconstruction of habits and traditions of the people who lived in this coastal area during a great part of the Holocene period (before the Portuguese navigators arrived in Brazil in 1500), and to infer their relations with the evolution of the surrounding geological environment. Two main goals have been set for this purpose: the application of facies analysis and depositional architecture in the selected sambaquis; and the investigation of the use of sediments from paleo-lagoons as their construction material. In order to achieve these goals, a multi-analytical approach has been used comprising: facies analysis; quantity evaluation of organic matter and carbonates associated with phosphates; characterization of the thick fraction in stereomicroscope; granulometry; heavy grains mineralogy; petrographic and micromorphological study of the thin section; scanning electron microscopy (SEM); and both carbon and nitrogen geochemistry and isotopy. The stratigraphy of the Carniça III and Encantada III sambaquis is composed of a sandy nucleus covered with a black organic layer full of shells and anthropic artifacts (black soil, represented as LA facies). In contrast, the Jabuticabeira II sambaqui is characterized by an assorted sequence of shell layers and thin black layers containing burial remains (funerary facies, represented as Lc) covered by black soil, and full of artifacts and burials. According to the facies analysis results, three associations have been found in this sambaqui, from bottom to top: muddy-gravel, muddy-sand and sandy-gravel. The vertical sequence of these associations reflects the progressive aggradation of the lagoon system and it establishes, thus, the relation between the sambaqui and the surrounding depositional environment. The facies associations, in any hierarchy, are limited by the thin layers in the Lc facies. The analysis of the construction materials used in the sambaquis has set their provenance in the nearest depositional features to the sites, represented by the lagoon bottom, margin and swamp for the Jabuticabeira II and Encantada III sambaquis, and by coastal lagoon barriers and superimposed wind dunes for the Carniça III site. The granulometric parameters and the heavy minerals indexes have showed control, mainly geographic, in their distribution. The analysis of phosphate components associated with the carbon and nitrogen isotopic signals shows great anthropic processing in the material which constitutes the funerary and the black soil layers found in the Jabuticabeira II sambaqui, with putrid organic matter characteristics, a probable waste from the day-by-day processing of the people who built the sambaquis. On the contrary, this kind of processing is supposed to have been much lower in the Carniça III and the Encantada III sambaquis.

New pedologic, carbon isotope and phytolith analyses along with stratigraphic correlations to nearby archaeological sites record the spatial and temporal distribution of past vegetation patterns in the Sac Valley Archaeological District of southwest Missouri. Radiocarbon ages obtained from a soil core along Bear Creek, CB5, are related to those from Hajic et al. (1998, 2000) indicating that the CB5 location contains correlative middle Rodgers Shelter submember deposits. This relationship also indicates that sedimentation was approximately two times greater at the CB5 locality than at the Big Eddy (23CE426) archaeological site providing much higher temporal resolution for the alluvial history as well as the vegetation proxies during the early to middle Holocene. Most midcontinent climate proxy records include indications of an early Holocene warm period when prairie replaced forests, then a cooler period in which trees dominated the landscape, followed by a warmer middle Holocene period when prairie vegetation was dominant. However, the CB5 δ13C profile of mixed C3/C4 vegetation indicates either that the vegetation at this location was not as sensitive to climate change or that this location was buffered from other influences, e.g. fires, which were critical to the expansion of prairie vegetation. On the other hand, the phytolith assemblages at CB5 indicate that there were periods with abundant C4 grasses even though the δ13C values indicate a dominance of C3 vegetation. This indicates that in the mixed forest/prairie ecotone interpretations of past vegetation from either carbon isotopes or phytolith assemblages alone may not accurately reflect patterns of vegetation. A new core, DDY-KR2, was obtained from the Big Eddy (23CE426) archaeological site and a finer resolution of δ13C values at Big Eddy increased the detail about alluvial activity and revealed subtle changes in the vegetation. The vegetation types suggested by the δ13C values for DDY-KR2 are reflected in the phytolith assemblages validating their usefulness in reconstructing local vegetation history.

The Elbow Sand Hills and the adjacent South Saskatchewan and QuAppelle River valleys in south-central Saskatchewan have long been recognized as the locus of extensive precontact Plains cultural settlement throughout the post-glacial period. The objectives of this geoarchaeological investigation are to identify the extent to which 1) Holocene environmental changes and landscape evolution impacted precontact settlement patterns and archaeological site preservation and visibility, and 2) to investigate the relationship between archaeological site location and the environmental elements on a Northern Plains landscape using a Geographical Information System (GIS). The lithostratigraphic record suggests that this region experienced significant Holocene climatic changes with repetitive alternations between arid and humid climatic conditions over the past 5,000 years. Holocene climatic conditions influenced settlement patterns as indicated by extensive occupations of the study area, particularly in the aeolian sand dunes, during prolonged humid climatic intervals that are recorded by paleosols. Precontact cultural groups departed the Elbow Sand Hills and the adjacent uplands for the nearby South Saskatchewan and QuAppelle River spillways during extended arid climatic intervals characterized by aeolian activity and sand dune development. <p>GIS analyses reveal that precontact cultural settlement patterns were focused on certain environmental characteristics according archaeological site distribution. Precontact cultural groups apparently concentrated their settlement activities within the glacial meltwater spillways and aeolian sand dunes, which are topographically complex and situated in close proximity to water resources where natural resources were abundant and diverse. The glaciofluvial plains and glaciolacustrine plains are topographically subdued landforms, and along with the hummocky moraine, are distal to permanent water resources. These landforms are characterized by a lower intensity of occupation because of a consequence of lower resource availability and diversity. Archaeological site visibility and preservation varies within the region with the hummocky moraine and glaciolacustrine plains displaying the greatest degree of site visibility and preservation. The aeolian sand dunes, meltwater spillways, and glaciofluvial plains were physiographic elements that exhibit the lowest site visibility and preservation potential. These landforms were more strongly influenced by post-glacial climatic conditions, geomorphic processes, and the recent formation of the Lake Diefenbaker reservoir.

The Elbow Sand Hills and the adjacent South Saskatchewan and QuAppelle River valleys in south-central Saskatchewan have long been recognized as the locus of extensive precontact Plains cultural settlement throughout the post-glacial period. The objectives of this geoarchaeological investigation are to identify the extent to which 1) Holocene environmental changes and landscape evolution impacted precontact settlement patterns and archaeological site preservation and visibility, and 2) to investigate the relationship between archaeological site location and the environmental elements on a Northern Plains landscape using a Geographical Information System (GIS). The lithostratigraphic record suggests that this region experienced significant Holocene climatic changes with repetitive alternations between arid and humid climatic conditions over the past 5,000 years. Holocene climatic conditions influenced settlement patterns as indicated by extensive occupations of the study area, particularly in the aeolian sand dunes, during prolonged humid climatic intervals that are recorded by paleosols. Precontact cultural groups departed the Elbow Sand Hills and the adjacent uplands for the nearby South Saskatchewan and QuAppelle River spillways during extended arid climatic intervals characterized by aeolian activity and sand dune development. <p>GIS analyses reveal that precontact cultural settlement patterns were focused on certain environmental characteristics according archaeological site distribution. Precontact cultural groups apparently concentrated their settlement activities within the glacial meltwater spillways and aeolian sand dunes, which are topographically complex and situated in close proximity to water resources where natural resources were abundant and diverse. The glaciofluvial plains and glaciolacustrine plains are topographically subdued landforms, and along with the hummocky moraine, are distal to permanent water resources. These landforms are characterized by a lower intensity of occupation because of a consequence of lower resource availability and diversity. Archaeological site visibility and preservation varies within the region with the hummocky moraine and glaciolacustrine plains displaying the greatest degree of site visibility and preservation. The aeolian sand dunes, meltwater spillways, and glaciofluvial plains were physiographic elements that exhibit the lowest site visibility and preservation potential. These landforms were more strongly influenced by post-glacial climatic conditions, geomorphic processes, and the recent formation of the Lake Diefenbaker reservoir.

Remains of a mammoth, other Pleistocene fauna, and a wooden bowl were recovered from the Vernor site located in Clute, Brazoria County on the Texas Gulf Coast. Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and geochronology were used to establish the depositional history of the site. The geologic evidence suggests that these sediments were deposited during a period of fluvial activity by an ancient meander belt of the Brazos River, known today as Oyster Creek, which characterized this region during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. Organics associated with the wooden bowl were radiocarbon dated to 4205 + 30 yr B.P. (UCIAMS-12039), while sand grains associated with the remains of the mammoth were dated using the luminescence technique to 66,000 + 7000 yr B.P. (UIC1383). According to these dates and their positions in the stratigraphic record, it was established that the mammoth and other Pleistocene age fauna preceded human occupation, and are not contemporaneous with the wooden bowl.

In this dissertation, I examine trajectories of cultural evolution among complexhunter-gatherers and middle range societies. Broadly, I consider the theoretical issuesrelated to these two areas of study and how we should conceptualize the study of socioculturalevolution in societies organized at this scale. I apply these ideas to the study ofthe prehistoric hunter-gatherers who occupied Sapelo Island, Georgia, U. S. A.Specifically, I examine the Archaic period (4200 – 3000 B. P.) occupation of the SapeloShell Ring complex, located on the western side of the island. In particular, I study issuesof sedentism, settlement aggregation, mound construction, and the emergence of socialinequality as they relate to shell rings in the southeastern United States, as well as otherareas of the world. One of the central problems for studying these sites is whether shellrings form by gradual accumulation or by intentional construction and the concomitantsocial formations associated with these two different behaviors. Using geophysicalsurvey, artifact distributions, and radiocarbon dating, I examine the use and nature ofspace at the site as well as site formation processes. I present the results of both thegrowth band analysis on clams and the isotopic analysis on clams and oysters from thesite in order to address season of occupation. In addition to this new data, a reanalysis ofprevious excavations is presented. Combined, these data lend important insights intodifferent dimensions of socio-political complexity. Specifically, these data suggest thatthe Sapelo Shell Ring complex population was relatively large for its time. It addition, itseems that at least some portion of the population occupied the site year-round. Despiteit large population size and reduced mobility the occupants of the site maintained at leastsome degree of egalitarian social relations.

In this dissertation I investigate the idea of the home in archaeology, with specific reference to home-making practices in Sicily and Calabria over the course of the Bronze Age (ca. 2400-900 BC). This area possesses a wealth of settlement evidence, but the details of everyday domestic life have yet to be studied on their own merits. Drawing inspiration from phenomenology and human geography, I define the archaeological home as an existential relationship between people and place that is generated by the history it embodies and the material investments through which that history is manifested. Although traditional Bronze Age architecture is typically characterized as crude and expedient, analysis of settlement space on the island of Filicudi demonstrates that despite their small size and simple construction, buildings were maintained and reoccupied over the course of many centuries. Patterns of rebuilding stone walls and renewing earthen floors demonstrate a concern with maintaining continuity and perpetuating a localized architectural tradition. I interpret these behaviors as instrumental in generating and negotiating a distinct sense of identity, both individual and collective. Geoarchaeological study of occupation deposits at the recently excavated settlements of Filo Braccio, Taureana di Palmi, and Sant'Aniceto reveals that inhabitants employed a diverse array of substances in their floors, including clay, ash, crushed limestone, marl, occupation debris, and clean soil material. These choices exhibit a regard for the house floor as a platform for daily life, as does the treatment of these surfaces over time. Home-making also extends to waste disposal: deeply stratified deposits at Sant'Aniceto indicate that residents initially collected their household debris in a designated midden. At a certain point, this refuse was moved en masse in order to fill a single building at the site, constituting an episode of intentional structural closure. Traditions of architectural practice, attention to flooring materials, the treatment of household waste, and the orchestrated burial of buildings can all be seen as ways in which the lives of people and the biographies of their dwelt environments become intertwined. This ongoing relationship conveys a sense of home-making in the distant past, yet still resonates for us today.

Os sambaquis do litoral sul brasileiro são marcos paisagísticos, com valor histórico e científico. Constituem-se, predominantemente, de conchas de moluscos e sedimentos com marcante presença de matéria orgânica, empilhados em conformações estratigráficas variadas. Neste trabalho, elegeram-se como objetos de estudo três sambaquis da costa centro-sul de Santa Catarina, com dois tipos de conformações distintas: de um lado, os sambaquis Carniça III e Encantadas III, e, de outro, o Jabuticabeira II, maior e estratigraficamente mais complexo. A proposta é auxiliar na reconstrução dos hábitos e costumes dos povos que viveram nesta área litorânea durante grande parte do Holoceno pré-descobrimento, e inferir suas relações com a evolução do ambiente geológico que os cercava. Para isso, foca-se em duas metas ou objetivos maiores: a aplicação de análise de fácies e de arquitetura deposicional nos sambaquis selecionados; e a investigação do uso de sedimentos paleolagunares como seu material construtivo. Para buscar estes objetivos, utilizou-se uma abordagem multi-analítica, que compreendeu: análise de fácies; determinação dos teores de matéria orgânica e carbonatos mais fosfatos; caracterização da fração grossa por lupa; granulometria; mineralogia de grãos pesados; estudo petrográfico e micromorfológico em seção delgada; microscopia eletrônica de varredura; e geoquímica e isotopia de carbono e nitrogênio. A estratigrafia dos sambaquis Carniça III e Encantada III é composta por um núcleo arenoso sobreposto por camada preta orgânica rica em conchas e artefatos antrópicos (terra preta, codificada como fácies LA). Em contraste, o sambaqui Jabuticabeira II caracteriza-se pela intercalação entre camadas conchíferas e lâminas pretas contendo sepultamentos (fácies funerária, codificada como Lc), capeada por camada de terra preta, rica em artefatos e sepultamentos. Por meio da análise de fácies, foi possível distinguir neste sambaqui três associações, da base para o topo: cascalho-lamosa, areno-lamosa e cascalho-arenosa. A sucessão vertical destas associações reflete o assoreamento progressivo do sistema lagunar e configura assim a relação do sambaqui com o ambiente deposicional do entorno. As associações de fácies, de qualquer hierarquia, são delimitadas pelas lâminas da fácies Lc. As análises do material construtivo utilizado nos sambaquis indicaram proveniência a partir das feições deposicionais mais próximas aos sítios, representadas por fundo, margem e brejo lagunar, nos casos dos sambaquis Jabuticabeira II e Encantada III, e por cordões litorâneos lagunares e dunas eólicas superimpostas, no caso do sítio Carniça III. Os parâmetros granulométricos e os índices de minerais pesados revelaram controle sobretudo geográfico em sua distribuição. A análise de componentes fosfáticos aliados aos sinais isotópicos do carbono e nitrogênio indicam grande processamento antrópico no material constituinte das lâminas funerárias e da terra preta do sambaqui Jabuticabeira II, com características de matéria orgânica putrefata, provável refugo do processamento cotidiano dos sambaquieiros. Já para o Carniça III e Encantada III, este processamento teria sido muito menor. / The sambaquis (also known as shell mounds or shell middens) in the Brazilian southern coast are landscape references and bear historical and scientific value. They are predominantly constituted of mollusk shells and sediments and also hold a sound presence of organic matter, piled up in different stratigraphic configurations. In this work, three sambaquis in the central-southern coast of the Santa Catarina state have been chosen as objects of study. They present two distinct configuration types: on one hand, the Carniça III and the Encantadas III, and, on the other hand, the Jabuticabeira II, which is larger and stratigraphically more complex. The proposal is to assist on the reconstruction of habits and traditions of the people who lived in this coastal area during a great part of the Holocene period (before the Portuguese navigators arrived in Brazil in 1500), and to infer their relations with the evolution of the surrounding geological environment. Two main goals have been set for this purpose: the application of facies analysis and depositional architecture in the selected sambaquis; and the investigation of the use of sediments from paleo-lagoons as their construction material. In order to achieve these goals, a multi-analytical approach has been used comprising: facies analysis; quantity evaluation of organic matter and carbonates associated with phosphates; characterization of the thick fraction in stereomicroscope; granulometry; heavy grains mineralogy; petrographic and micromorphological study of the thin section; scanning electron microscopy (SEM); and both carbon and nitrogen geochemistry and isotopy. The stratigraphy of the Carniça III and Encantada III sambaquis is composed of a sandy nucleus covered with a black organic layer full of shells and anthropic artifacts (black soil, represented as LA facies). In contrast, the Jabuticabeira II sambaqui is characterized by an assorted sequence of shell layers and thin black layers containing burial remains (funerary facies, represented as Lc) covered by black soil, and full of artifacts and burials. According to the facies analysis results, three associations have been found in this sambaqui, from bottom to top: muddy-gravel, muddy-sand and sandy-gravel. The vertical sequence of these associations reflects the progressive aggradation of the lagoon system and it establishes, thus, the relation between the sambaqui and the surrounding depositional environment. The facies associations, in any hierarchy, are limited by the thin layers in the Lc facies. The analysis of the construction materials used in the sambaquis has set their provenance in the nearest depositional features to the sites, represented by the lagoon bottom, margin and swamp for the Jabuticabeira II and Encantada III sambaquis, and by coastal lagoon barriers and superimposed wind dunes for the Carniça III site. The granulometric parameters and the heavy minerals indexes have showed control, mainly geographic, in their distribution. The analysis of phosphate components associated with the carbon and nitrogen isotopic signals shows great anthropic processing in the material which constitutes the funerary and the black soil layers found in the Jabuticabeira II sambaqui, with putrid organic matter characteristics, a probable waste from the day-by-day processing of the people who built the sambaquis. On the contrary, this kind of processing is supposed to have been much lower in the Carniça III and the Encantada III sambaquis.

This thesis presents the results of geoarchaeological investigations conducted at two new test pits, M11 and M12, at the paleoanthropological site of Dmanisi during the 2012 field season. This research is important for understanding the site formation processes occurring along the north-south axis of the Dmanisi site and how that affects the chronostratigraphic sequence and interpretation of archaeological materials here. With these excavations we can build a stronger interpretation for how broader areas of this site formed and changed both geologically and archaeologically. The geologic results of this study indicate that changes in sediment deposition and development episodes can affect interpretations of how long these sediments accumulated, how likely bones are to preserve, as well as how secondary gravel deposition can influence several archaeological interpretations. The archaeological results suggest that there could have been changes in occupation intensity between the stratum A and B phases although different rates of sediment deposition and surface stability could affect such artifact accumulations. In addition, during the stratum B phase there appears to be little change in artifact procurement behaviors and reduction characteristics by these hominins. The overall results of this research indicate that geologic factors should be addressed and cautions should be taken prior to making interpretations about archaeological assemblages.